System Extension Cannot Be Used? How do I fix?

Hello
I recently updated to Mavericks using 10.9.4, and installed a Canon Pro 100 printer. Ever since I did this I am getting the following message.
"System extension cannot be used
The system extension “/System/Library/Extensions/IOFireWireMxBt.kext” was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product’s vendor for an update."
Also, what is "IOFirwWireMx.kext"? If I knew what is was, I would try to re-install it, as it suggests. But I don't know what this is referring to. How do I fix this?
Thanks for your help.
Oudlady

I'm afraid there is no simple solution without a backup of the Mac before 10.9 was installed. There are user tips that explain the process, but it will vary for each user depending on what is used on the Mac.
Apple: Restoring a previous OS X version
How to revert OS X back from Mavericks
I have seen that many users complain about 10.9 being slow/ worse than "whatever was installed before".
Personally I find it comparable in performance to other OS's.
The trouble seems to be that users have migrated with many old apps installed from previous OS versions. Old system extensions & other background tasks that can make the OS perform badly. If installed software is not compatible with 10.9 it can cause errors (as the old Maxtor software illustrated).
The basic options are to clean up the OS (find out how to uninstall all the old stuff) or to reinstall the OS without the old apps.
The process usually involves creating an EtreCheck report to show people here what is installed. From there you can either decide to backup your data & reinstall or attempt to clean out some older apps (assuming that is what is causing the trouble).
http://etresoft.com/etrecheck
It helps if you include descriptions of what the actual issues are, e.g. Finder takes x mins to open folders.
You will also want to make a full backup onto another disk. Do you know how to do that?
I'd suggest you mark this thread as solved & then create a new thread so that the topic is clear. Post a link to it from here if you want me & Kappy to see it

Similar Messages

Splash screen says "System extension cannot be used The system extension "/System/Library/Extensions/PulseDriver.kext" was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product's vendor for an update. How to fix?

Please help!
After installing iTunes 11.0.1 I got a splash screen that appears after all updates. The screen reads:
System extension cannot be used
"The system extension “/System/Library/Extensions/PulseDriver.kext” was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product’s vendor for an update."
Question: How do I re-install or replace this file?
Jim

I submitted the above question, later finding that it has been answered by Buller already. No one need reply as Buller's answer seems to solve the problem for others, and I'll try that.
Jim

"System extension cannot be used" when updating iTunes

Every time I update iTunes through the standard Software Update, I get multiple messages towards the end of the installation saying:
*System extension cannot be used*
The system extension "/System/Library/Extensions/IOFireWireWDHID.kext" was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product's vendor for an update.
This only happens when updating iTunes. Any ideas? Thank you in advance!

Hello MaxGraphics,
You both may want to read this article before proceeding. It does give you an idea about kext files and how to handle them.
http://www.ihackintosh.com/2009/02/what-is-kextwhere-is-kext-how-to-install-kext /
Hope this helps.

What does this mean? ... System extension cannot be used ... The system extension "/System/Library/Extensions/IOFireWireWDHID.kext" was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product's vendor for an update.

I get this message often when updating things. I have told Small Dog Computer where I buy my stuff, and they didn't have an answer. Thanks in advance.
What does this mean? ... System extension cannot be used ... The system extension "/System/Library/Extensions/IOFireWireWDHID.kext" was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product's vendor for an update.

Interesting ... thank you! Actually I had that external drive, Western Digital, a while back on my second last? or third last? laptop ... the external drive died with a slew of pictures I had carefully uploaded to it :-(
I won't worry about it anymore :-)
sorry you got only 5 points, can't figure how to give you 10 points.

Changed Permission Settings: "System extension cannot be used"

I was having some weird problems with file sharing on my network recently, so I tried changing around some of the permissions on my drives to see if I could resolve it. For some reason I was getting messages saying I didn't have permission to copy files from one computer to another on my network. This seemed to come on randomly as we have been doing file transfers this way for quite some time now. I looked at our file sharing preferences in the System Preference's and added all 4 drives from my Mac Pro in there and made sure that my username had full read and write capabilities. I then tried logging into my Mac Pro from my iMac, just like I've done in the past, and I was still unable to copy the files. So I removed all the folders and turned off file sharing. I then clicked 'Get Info' for my main Macintosh HD and tried changing the permission settings there. I clicked the option to make my username the owner, and then I clicked 'Apply to enclosed items...' and this brought up a progress bar that I let go for about 10 minutes. Then I got a pop-up error message stating "System extension cannot be used" and had an extension path listed underneath, saying it was installed improperly and cannot be used. This happens an endless amount of times. It seems to be giving me this message for every single extension on the computer. If I hold down enter the pop-ups just keep coming with different extensions listed.
I hope someone with some insight on how permissions work in OS X Lion can give me some advice on how to resolve, and possible the correct way I should be setting up sharing if I've been doing wrong all this time. What strikes me as odd is that I never had any issues with sharing anything up until about a week or so ago, and I can't remember if there were any system updates that I installed that might have something to do with this.
Any help is much appreciated, thanks!

I had this problem recently in addition to my laptop getting stuck on the Apple logo and spinning icon. It took me a long to time to work through it so I thought I would share what I did to make it easier for others.
The best thing to do when having permission problems is to do a 'disk permissions repair'. You can do this using the disk utility app found in your applications/utilities folder. This will attempt to rewrite all the permissions that were incorrectly set. When it is doing this it is common to get a message saying 'ACL...found and not expected...' do not go and delete these files. Its normal for this correction process to take more than 30 minutes, for me it took an hour.
If this proccess doesnt work for you than you can also try a disk repair.
If you can't boot using the normal disk you can also access this program through the recovery boot (holding Command-R of Option at startup), through the safe mode (holding Shift on start up) or through a recovery CD. You can also boot in a terminal type mode but this is a last ditch effort as a misspelt command could do more damage. personally, because I do not know what the commands I am using actually mean, I would recommend talking to a person at apple then using this approach.
Hope this helps

System extension cannot be used..why?

I get this message:
system extension cannot be used.
the system extension “/Library/Frameworks/PrivateTunnel.framework/Versions/Current/Extensions/tun.ke xt” was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product’s vendor for an update.
What is wrong? How should fixt it?
O am very new with Mac and its OSX8.5
Thanks for help.
JJ

You really should contact the vendors technical support staff and have them assist you.
I note that you are using Lion. Some modems can only work in 32 bit mode. When you power up your MBP and hold the 2 and 3 keys down. When the MBP finishes the boot, then install the modem software and see if it works.
Ciao.

I get the error message:System extension cannot be used The system extension "/System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBthernetHost.kext" was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product's vendor for an update.

I get the error message after updating itunes:
System extension cannot be used
The system extension “/System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBthernetHost.kext” was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product’s vendor for an update.
What or how do I fix this?

"I get the error message after updating itunes:
System extension cannot be used
The system extension “/System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBthernetHost.kext” was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product’s vendor for an update.
What or how do I fix this?"
I have a MacBook Pro running Mas OS X Version 10.7.5
Is this a problem I need to fix? Is there a fix or update?

Now what when i'm told: "System extension cannot be used"

I was installing Propellerheads Record ( package installation ) when this message pops up near the end of installation:
System extension cannot be used: The system extension "/System/Libraryu/Extensions/CmUSBMassStorage.kext" was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product's vendor for an update.
And then the installer went on and said installation was a success giving it the green check mark.
I have no clue who the vendor was.
How do fix it?
Is it related somehow to my iMac 306 and it TB harddrive?

a brody wrote:
Sounds like a typo was made by the installer.
There is /System/Library/Extensions/ but no /System/Libraryu/Extensions/
The 'u' after Library may either indicate an accented symbol
The mass storage kernele extention for USB would be for devices that store data that are connected to your USB port. Now, I don't have a registration for their support website, however, they do have a Snow Leopard comaptibility statement if you do register. I would register, and see what it has to say, before you attempt any further installs.
Aside from my typing mistake i should have said that this was a demo version to give me a taste before i buy.
I've sent propellerheads a question thru their web page.

System extension cannot be used - rtl8187bl.kext

hi,
sometimes when i use system update i get this error message:
title: system extension cannot be used
message: the system extension "/System/Library/Extensions/RTL8187Bl.kext" was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product's vendor for an update.
i'm pretty sure its a driver for network device (ethernet or wifi), both of them works fine for me, and i have no idea how to update/reinstall drivers under MacOS.
any idea/tip/guess can help,
thank you.

See the following:
Uninstalling Software: The Basics
Most OS X applications are completely self-contained "packages" that can be uninstalled by simply dragging the application to the Trash. Applications may create preference files that are stored in the /Home/Library/Preferences/ folder. Although they do nothing once you delete the associated application, they do take up some disk space. If you want you can look for them in the above location and delete them, too.
Some applications may install an uninstaller program that can be used to remove the application. In some cases the uninstaller may be part of the application's installer, and is invoked by clicking on a Customize button that will appear during the install process.
Some applications may install components in the /Home/Library/Applications Support/ folder. You can also check there to see if the application has created a folder. You can also delete the folder that's in the Applications Support folder. Again, they don't do anything but take up disk space once the application is trashed.
Some applications may install a startupitem or a Log In item. Startupitems are usually installed in the /Library/StartupItems/ folder and less often in the /Home/Library/StartupItems/ folder. Log In Items are set in the Accounts preferences. Open System Preferences, click on the Accounts icon, then click on the LogIn Items tab. Locate the item in the list for the application you want to remove and click on the "-" button to delete it from the list.
Some software use startup daemons or agents that are a new feature of the OS. Look for them in /Library/LaunchAgents/ and /Library/LaunchDaemons/ or in /Home/Library/LaunchAgents/.
If an application installs any other files the best way to track them down is to do a Finder search using the application name or the developer name as the search term. Unfortunately Spotlight will not look in certain folders by default. You can modify Spotlight's behavior or use a third-party search utility, Easy Find, instead. Download Easy Find at VersionTracker or MacUpdate.
Some applications install a receipt in the /Library/Receipts/ folder. Usually with the same name as the program or the developer. The item generally has a ".pkg" extension. Be sure you also delete this item as some programs use it to determine if it's already installed.
There are many utilities that can uninstall applications. Here is a selection:
AppZapper
Automaton
Hazel
CleanApp
Yank
SuperPop
Uninstaller
Spring Cleaning
Look for them at VersionTracker or MacUpdate.
For more information visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on removing software.

System extension cannot be used? (AppleAirport2.kext)

I rebooted my computer yesterday because it had started acting kindof slow for some reason. I figured that since quitting Safari, which had been open for several days, didn't do it- a reboot ought to.
When I logged in after rebooting, I got this message:
"System extension cannot be used.
The system extension "/System/Library/Extensions/AppleAirPort2.kext" was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product's vendor for an update."
I haven't installed or tinkered with my computer recently, and it's been rebooted several times since the last time I had, so I don't understand why it suddenly seemed to forget it had an Airport Extreme card.
I tried throwing the Airport Extreme updates on a USB drive and reinstalling it, but it didn't do the trick.
It's running OS X 10.4, I'm pretty sure it's the .6 release, but I don't have the machine in front of me at the moment to verify.
Does anyone have an idea as to why this may have happened, or how I can fix it? Thank you so much in advance!

It is, indeed, running 10.4.6.
It was 10.4.5's combo update that had the file.
I tried installing and replacing the version of AppleAirport2.kext and rebooting and it didn't give that message when I logged in anymore. It still wasn't seeing that there was an AirportExtreme card present, though.
I deleted the file, as well as the two cache files as I had seen to try doing before I posted here, rebooted, installed the file with Pacifist.
I was using my PowerBook to check my settings here while the G5 started up. iChat on the PowerBook logged off, and I heard it log in on the G5!
Thank you both so much!

System Extension Cannot Be Used message pop-up

I just upgraded from an iMac power pc to a new iMac with snow leopard. I have an HP Photosmart B8850 printer and uninstalled the previous software driver and installed updated software. The problem is that I get a warning box with the message [ System Extension Cannot Be Used. The system extension “/system/Library/Extensions/hp/photosmartb8800series.kext” was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the products vendor for an update.] It appears that Library/Extensions is empty. The printer seems to be working properly. Do I need the system extension? If not, how can I keep the warning box from popping up?

If you are looking in /Library/Extensions for this file as your message seems to indicate, you are looking in the wrong place. Go to your Finder's Go menu and select *Go to Folder...* then type in /system/Library/Extensions
Best of luck.

"System Extension cannot be used" when starting Parallels

I'm using Parallels Desktop 4.0 to provide a platform for Windows XP on my MacBook. It works very well, but since a recent update of the package, I have been getting a message on startup which says:
"System extension cannot be used
The system extension "/Library/Filesystems/fusefs.fs/Support/fusefs.kext" was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product's vendor for an update."
I see from other discussions in this forum that this type of warning sometimes appears, but what does it mean generically - does anyone know? So far Parallels support has suggested a couple of things including reloading MacFUSE which I'd never heard of, but they are now suggesting it's a Mac OS problem. Could it be? I need some kind of steer as to what this means and what could have caused it

Hello MaxGraphics,
You both may want to read this article before proceeding. It does give you an idea about kext files and how to handle them.
http://www.ihackintosh.com/2009/02/what-is-kextwhere-is-kext-how-to-install-kext /
Hope this helps.

"System Extension Cannot Be Used" Pop Ups on Startup

Hello,
When I start my computer I get these three pop up windows with the heading:
"System Extension Cannot Be Used"
The system extension “/System/Library/Extensions/SymOSXKernelUtilities.kext“ was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product’s vendor for an update.
The system extension “/System/Library/Extensions/DeleteTrap.kext“ was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product’s vendor for an update.
The system extension “/System/Library/Extensions/symfs.kext“ was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product’s vendor for an update.
Any ideas how to fix/get rid of these???
Gracias!
G4 Mac OS X (10.3.5) FCP, Adobe

Hello,
When I start my computer I get these three pop up
windows with the heading:
"System Extension Cannot Be Used"
The system extension
“/System/Library/Extensions/SymOSXKernelUtilities.kext
“ was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please
try reinstalling it, or contact the product’s vendor
for an update.
The system extension
“/System/Library/Extensions/DeleteTrap.kext“ was
installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try
reinstalling it, or contact the product’s vendor for
an update.
The system extension
“/System/Library/Extensions/symfs.kext“ was installed
improperly and cannot be used. Please try
reinstalling it, or contact the product’s vendor for
an update.
Any ideas how to fix/get rid of these???
Gracias!
G4 Mac
OS X (10.3.5) FCP, Adobe
Hi Eric,
Did you resolve this problem, using any of the suggestions posted. I am having the exact same problem. Cannot burn DVDs or CDs is this part of my problem. Drive reported an error. Sense key aborted command. Sense code =0x04 logical unit not ready, cause not reportable.

HP Laser Printer message saying "System Extension Cannot Be Used"

I am trying to install a laserjet printer but while it was installing, a message came up which read, "'System Extension Cannot Be Used' The system extension, "/System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext' was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product's vendor for an update." We tried the printer out and it seems to work, however, the scanner does not work.
When I got this Mac Book Pro, 4 or 5 years ago, I had a HP inkjet printer which I can never use the scanning feature because it did not work. I don't remember what the error message was, but it never worked when I tried to use it. I wonder if the problems with scanning have to do with this particular file that is supposedly installed wrongly.
We tested the printer out and it worked fine. But no scanning. It can't find the scanner.
My computer is Mac OS X - 10.6.8. The printer is HP Laserjet Pro 200 color MFP.
Anyone have any idea what I should do to fix this error? Thanks.

Open the Script Editor in the /Applications/AppleScript/ folder, copy and paste the entire following line into it, and press the Run button:
do shell script "chown -R root:wheel /System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext" with administrator privileges
If it doesn’t work, choose Go to Folder from the Finder's Go menu, provide /System/Library/Extensions/ as the path, throw the AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext item away, and reinstall iTunes.
(118910)

System extension cannot be used --can anyone help ?

so i spotted that the system library as well as the home library had permissions blocked for the administrator, so i unlocked all enclosed items permissions.
i already had issues being brought to senior advisor attention over 1,5 years now, about hangs and freezes. mostly hangs.
no one so far has been able to fix them.
well now spotting these warnings, after i allowed all permissions inside both libraries, have warnings show up.
i gather these are not prepperly installed softwares, but i cant figure out what softwares they could be, so i can take care of it.
so 4 warnings shows up :
System extension cannot be used
The system extension “/System/Library/Extensions/System.kext/PlugIns/Unsupported.kext” was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product’s vendor for an update.
System extension cannot be used
The system extension “/System/Library/Extensions/System.kext/PlugIns/Private.kext” was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product’s vendor for an update.
System extension cannot be used
The system extension “/System/Library/Extensions/IOPCIFamily.kext” was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product’s vendor for an update.
System extension cannot be used
The system extension “/System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBFamily.kext” was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product’s vendor for an update.

There isn't an "administrator" so who did you add and what permissions did you set.
In Get Info, they should be
system read & write
wheel read Only
everyone read only
The posix permissions, owner, and group should be
rwxr-xr-x root wheel
with ACE "group:everyone deny delete"
You may be able to recover by repairing permissions in Disk Utility, but you may have to reinstall the OS.

System Extension Cannot Be Used? How do I fix?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for